St. John's Pasta

"You've been slippin' daddy." This is what the kids told me last night as another day passed and I did not post our latest culinary experience, and sadly, I have to admit that they are right. I've had plenty of opportunity the last few days but instead ignored our blog and left it to collect dust. Fortunately, while at work, I was doing some research on blog content and ran across a few articles that discuss this so called blog drain. It seems all bloggers (Oh my, am I referring to myself as a blogger. Never say never Mario) hit this wall and either give up or work through it. Not one to ever quit and with renewed energy I pulled my anchor of aloofness out of the sea of disenchantment and got to blogging!

Last week was the Feast of St. John the Apostle. As I perused through our Captain's log to find our next challenge I ran across a recipe by the same name. Pure kismet! St. John's Eve Pasta – Pasta di San Giovanello (page 176) is to be enjoyed on June 24th and lo and behold it was June 24th! With the menu picked Mario and I headed out to the market to purchase our ingredients.

We found all of the ingredients except for two that we had to substitute. First, we could not find any sliced blanched almonds, but we did find blanched slivered almonds. Secondly, we could not find pappardelle pasta that looked like the photo in our Captain's log, but did find a flat version as a substitute. Once again the house filled with such great aromas as we toasted the bread crumbs and almonds, heated the anchovies, and added in the onions, garlic and tomato sauce.

Once the pasta was done we drained it and added it to the tomato sauce mixture, mixed it all together and served with a little sprinkle of the remaining bread crumbs. As all of you know by now, the key word in the previous paragraph was "Anchovies" and by now you know that Mario and I would love them and Angela and Mariesa would call the local pizzeria. But to our amazement the girls dug in and each had a serving. The comments were mixed but we all agreed that this recipe missed the mark for us.

Ciao,
Mairo & Mario
The Three Tocayos

Happy B-Days!

It's that time of year again! Back to back to back celebrations, starting with Mario's birthday, then mine and finally wrapping it all up with Father's day. This year we celebrated our birthday at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. As you can imagine we were all pooped-out on Sunday, but the kids and Angela managed to muster the energy to recreate the Bistecca alla Fiorentina - T-Bone Fiorentina (page 400). We all agreed that it was just as delicious as the first time!

Happy Father's Day to all our family and last but not least our Captain.

Ciao,
Mario & Mario
The Three Tocayos

Simply Delicious

Tonight we prepared the Maccheroni alla Chitarra - Black Spaghetti with Mussels, Chiles and Mint (page 212). I knew that Mariesa would not be a fan, but this has always been on my list of "must try" dishes. The recipe was very simple and had the added quirkiness of utilizing black pasta, something we never had.

Mario and I sorted through the mussels and discarded the ones with cracked shells and the ones that were no longer alive. We soaked them in cool salt water for about half an hour (allowing the mussels to rinse out whatever sand they still might have) then rinsed. Mario scrubbed and debearded the 2lbs of mussels while I cut the red onion and started to heat the pan with EVOO.

In no time the onions were softened and we added the dry white wine, red pepper flakes, mussels and tomato sauce to the pan, all the while adding the black pasta to the boiling water. Within minutes we drained the pasta and added it to the pan with the mint leaves. We quickly plated our dishes and sat down to eat!

Angela and I called it "simply delicious", and to our dismay, Mario did not find the texture of the mussels to his liking. To which Mariesa added, "if he doesn't like it what makes you think I will like it!" Mario felt badly about his reaction to which we responded "no worries". This journey is about exploring new flavors and experiences and he has been very adventurous in exposing his palette. The Captain and I could not have asked for a better shipmate!

Ciao,
Mario & Mario

The Three Tocayos

Et tu Angela?

The first week of June brought with it cool temperatures, clear blue skies, waves of rich, green grass and of course soft shell crabs! With a limited window of opportunity, Mario and I heeded our captains orders for the Molecche con Raini – Soft-Shell Crabs with Broccoli Rabe and Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto (page 272). Now, we must apologize to all our loyal readers, due to circumstances beyond our control – an Assistant Principal, with an end of the school year schedule on her itinerary – we lost command of our precious laptop. Although we fought gallantly to regain possession, we were no match for the beady eyed professional with deadlines looming ever so close! Luckily, after many days, we wore her down and retook possession of the laptop. I am glad to announce that this evening we are now in full control!

Last weeks Memorial Day celebration also meant the beginning of Summer Hours at my studio. This half day of work on Fridays has opened up our schedule and we have returned to cooking on Friday nights (as long as there are no Little League Playoff games scheduled).  Mario and I found a local Fishmonger who was willing to cooperate with two accused scallywags and we purchased 10 soft shell crabs. As I pulled the gold coins from my pocket, Mario, out of the corner of his eye, spotted some deep fried soft shells. "Dad, we gotta try these out!" he shouted. Impressed by his keen eye, we ordered up a serving and added it to our tab.

As we entered our dinghy and set sail, Mario opened up the package to reveal the fried soft shell crab. Within minutes it was gone, completely gone! Oh what joy! Both of us smiled like fat kids in a bakery! Once on board the ship Mario and I placed the crabs into the fridge and headed out to baseball practice.

Upon our return, Mario took command of the ship and quickly assigned me into the role of sous chef. I could tell that after taking a bite of his first soft shell crab, he was an advent fan and nothing would stand between him and his next serving. As he read through the recipe, he fired up the stove, measured out the oil and prepared the ingeidients. I took my role in stride, went out to the deck, began to clean and heat up the former champ.

Yea, that's exactly what Mario and I said. Oh my God! The crabs were done in a jiffy and we plated them with the broccoli rabe and sun-dried tomato pesto. We rang the dinner bell and waited for the crew to come in! To our dismay, our female crew mates could not stomach the fact that we were eating the entire crab! How could we have hurt these helpless creatures, much less eat them whole? Both Mariesa and Angela love 'dem some crab legs, but could not get past the texture and sight of a fully cooked crab.

Mariesa declared mutiny and each of us took sides. With swords drawn and ready for combat, Mario and I took our plate of crabs and walked towards the patio deck with drinks in hand, as I looked over to Angela, with my hand stretched out, she shook her head and sheepishly dismissed me! "Et tu Angela!" She looked towards Mariesa, as she dialed the number to the local pizzeria. 

As shock filled my body, my loyal sous chef grabbed me by the hand and guided me out to the patio. As the sun filled the sky with an orange hue, we sat and gorged ourselves on the delicious soft shell crabs as our mutinous cohorts gorged themselves on greasy pizza.

Since Angela and Mariesa did not partake in our culinary masterpiece, and much less, declared mutiny, they will not be allowed to vote on this weeks menu. Thus, Mario and I proudly declare that this weeks score is Five Crocs!

Ciao,
Mario & Mario

The Three Tocayos